at once upon the project with interest and sympathy, and Jim
knew that he could trust him wholly. It was arranged that Jim should
return to Mike the evening before the proposed descent upon Tom Buffum's
establishment, and sleep. The following evening Mike's horse would be
placed at Jim's disposal, and he and the Benedicts were to drive through
during the night to the point on the river where he would leave his
boat. Mike was to find his horse there and take him home.

Having accomplished his business, Jim went on, and before the twilight
had deepened into night, he found himself briskly paddling up the
stream, and at ten o'clock he had drawn his little boat up the beach,
and embraced Turk, his faithful dog, whom he had left, not only to take
care of his cabin, but to provide for himself. He had already eaten his
supper, and five minutes after he entered his cabin he and his dog were
snoring side by side in a sleep too profound to be disturbed, even by
the trumpet of old Tilden.

CHAPTER V.

IN WHICH, JIM ENLARGES HIS ACCOMMODATIONS AND ADOPTS A VIOLENT METHOD OF
SECURING BOARDERS.

When Jim Fenton waked from his long and refreshing sleep, after his
weary tramp and his row upon the river, the sun was shining brightly,
the blue-birds were singing, the partridges were drumming, and a red
squirrel, which even Turk would not disturb, was looking for provisions
in his cabin, or eyeing him saucily from one of the beams over his head.
He lay for a moment, stretching his huge limbs and rubbing his eyes,
thinking over what he had undertaken, and exclaiming at last: "Well,
Jim, ye've got a big contrack," he jumped up, and, striking a fire,
cooked his breakfast.

His first work was to make an addition to his accommodations for
lodgers, and he set about it in thorough earnest. Before noon he had
stripped bark enough from the trees in his vicinity to cover a building
as large as his own. The question with him was whether he should put up
an addition to his cabin, or hide a new building somewhere behind the
trees in his vicinity. In case of pursuit, his lodgers would need a
cover, and this he knew he could not give them in his cabin; for all who
were in the habit of visiting the woods were familiar with that
structure, and would certainly notice any addition to it, and be curious
about it. Twenty rods away there was a thicket of hemlock, and by
removing two or three trees in its center, he could successfully hide
from an